DREAM Act Reintroduced!

For more information on the DREAM Act and the individuals this act will affect, click here.

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Dear DREAM Advocate,

It is with great delight that we inform you that the DREAM Act has been re-introduced in the US House & Senate!

However, this is only the beginning of something amazing! We still need to remain focused on our goal - MAKING the DREAM Act a REALITY. Now more than ever, our congress members need to hear our youth's desire to become educated and productive citizens.

While you take action, please keep in mind that Numbers USA knows that the DREAM Act has been introduced and are asking their membership to call in OPPOSITION.

DREAM Advocate, this is our time to join forces and SUCCEED for the sake of our youth and the betterment of our nation.

Yours truly,


United We DREAM,
dreamactivist.org
Texas DREAM Act Coalition, &
University Leadership Initiative

Message from the National Immigration Law Center

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. Between today and April 3rd - Contact your Members of Congress (your Representative and BOTH Senators) and ask them to co-sponsor the DREAM Act.

2. Between April 4-19, 2009 - Members of Congress will be back in their states and districts . This is a perfect opportunity to meet with your Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor the bill. Make arrangements to meet with your representatives and if you have an event planned, invite the Representatives to attend.

3. Email your Representative - an email will automatically be sent to your Representatives asking him/her to co-sponsor the DREAM Act.

4. Sign the petition. Our goal is to have 65,000 people sign the petition - representing the number of students who graduate each year from high school who would benefit from the DREAM Act.

Lastly and most importantly, in order to pass the DREAM Act, we will need 60 votes in the Senate and 218 in the House!

Like you, we are eager to pass the DREAM Act and cannot wait to celebrate our victory. Please contact us if you have any questions or comments.

Sincerely,

University Leadership Initiative
www.universityleadership.org
ourdream2005@gmail.com

Immigration--the face that cannot be seen

For the last year and a half, several of us have been advocating with and for our three DREAM Act students--Monica, Jose, and Jesse. (to find out more search for "DREAM Act" in the blog search line...or go to Larry James' blog and search for "Monica.").

As the three of them have gone through multiple deportation hearings, they have also taken their time to speak to groups of people, helped initiate the DREAM Act coalition, worked toward getting the word out about immigrants' rights, and even traveled to Washington D.C. to talk to their state Senators. They also attend college and work to help their families.

Recently, Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson filed a private bill on their behalf. The Dallas Morning News wrote about it, which has now caught the attention of the national media.

To me, that sounds like progress. I want more people to hear the stories of kids like Monica, Jose, and Jesse. I think it's important that the public understand more about the DREAM Act and who it would benefit. I want people to understand that the only crime kids like Monica, Jose, and Jesse committed was staying with their family and the only crime their family committed was to over-stay their welcome in a place they knew would provide their children with possibilities and options they didn't have in Mexico.

People need to hear that "illegal" children who have been here since a very young age are desperately trying to get an education and work in order to be productive and contribute to the good of our country, but we are preventing that...which not only hurts them, but hurts us as well. For example...our schools are taking time and money to recruit and legalize bilingual teachers from places like Puerto Rico when we have bilingual educators right outside our back door who would love to be able to use their degree. Unfortunately, our fear of being "soft" on illegal immigration will not allow us to accept the very people we need.

Though I can write about what I know, the people who could articulate these arguments the best are the people who are most affected...the children. Their voices are powerful. They help us see illegal immigration from a different perspective.

But they are scared.

Our country, the "land of the free," has scared our children into hiding.

They are afraid that telling their story and showing their face might create repercussions for them from hateful people at school. They fear underhanded tactics that could be used against them to deport them.

But most of all, they fear for their families. They are afraid that speaking out about their situation may bring hate crimes to their back door. They are afraid that the pressure of immigration officials would intensify. They are afraid that the knowledge of where they live and places they frequent would become public knowledge and they would become targets.

They are Americans in every sense of the word, but cannot be considered American.

They are upstanding citizens who are considered criminals because they crossed an imaginary line that we created.

They are stripped of their language in our "English only" schools...only to be told in high school that we all need to learn a second language.

They are people with faces who cannot show their face.

More than 60,000 undocumented students graduate from high school each year. Until more of us speak out and create more of a momentum, they will continue to remain in the shadows.

Ramiro, a friend of mine, is working on his dreamact.com website that will put all of the DREAM Act resources in one place and make it easy to find out how to get involved with the group in your community. But, until then, you might contact your local National Council of La Raza group to seek out DREAM Act groups in your community then click here for four ways to help pass the DREAM Act. Help us create the groundswell that will allow people like Monica, Jose, and Jesse to come out of the shadows.

DREAM on, my friends!

This week, the DREAM Act didn't quite make it past the Senate floor. It was close, but wasn't enough.

I'm not quite sure I understand the fear and repercussions of allowing immigrants drivers licenses and legal stays here. And I REALLY don't understand preventing children who didn't choose to be here from getting an education and working. I think it has something to do with, "If we allow it for the people here now, people will continue bringing their kids over here illegally knowing that we'll give in eventually." I don't know if that is the rationale or not. But I would like to dispel some myths.

Myth:
Immigrants don't pay taxes. Immigrants pay taxes just like we do...on income, property, sales tax at the store, and anywhere else we all pay taxes. Even undocumented immigrants pay income taxes, as evidenced by the Social Security Administration's "suspense file" (taxes that can't be mathced to workers' names and social security numbers), which grew $20 billion between 1990 and 1998. (National Academy of Sciences, Cato Institute, Urban Institute, Soc. Sec. Administration)

Myth:
Immigrants send all their money back to their home countries. In addition to the consumer spending of immigrant households, immigrants and their businesses contribute $162 billion in tax revenue to U.S., federal, state, and local governments. (Cato Institute, Inter-American Development Bank)

Myth:
Immigrants take jobs and opportunities away from Americans. The largest wave of immigration to the U.S. since the early 1900s coincided with our lowest national unemployment rate and fastest economic growth. Immigrant entrepreneurs create jobs for U.S. and foreign workers. (Brookings Institution)

Myth:
Immigrants are a drain on the U.S. economy. During the 1990s, half of all new workers were foreign-born, filling gaps left by native-born workers in both the high- and low-skill ends of the spectrum. Immigrants fill jobs in key sectors, start their own businesses, and contribute to a thriving economy. The net benefit of immigration to the U.S. is nearly $10 billion annually. As Alan Greenspan points out, 70% of immigrants arrive in prime working age. that means we haven't spent a penny on their education, yet they are transplanted into our workforce and will contribute $500 billion toward our social security system over the next 20 years. (National Academy of Sciences, Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University, Federal Reserve)

Myth:
Immigrants don't want to learn English. Within 10 years of arrival, more than 75% of immigrants speak English well; moreover, demand for English classes at the adult level far exceeds supply.

Myth:
Today's immigrants are different than those of 100 years ago. Today's foreign-born population stands at 11.5%. In the early 20th century it was approximately 15%. Today's immigrants face the same challenges and discrimination as back then. Every new wave of immigrants has been met with suspicion and doubt yet, ultimately, every past wave of immigrants has been vindicated and saluted. (U.S. Census Bureau)

Myth:
Most immigrants cross the border illegally. Around 75% have legal permanent (immigrant) visas; of the 25% that are undocumented, 40% overstayed temporary (non-immigrant) visas. (INS Statistical Yearbook)
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The DREAM Act would provide an opportunity for U.S.-raised students to earn U.S. citizenship. The DREAM Act would allow certain immigrant students to adjust their status to that of a legal permanent resident on a conditional basis for six years based on the following requirements:

• Age. Immigrant students must have entered the U.S. before age 16.
• Academic requirement. Students must have been accepted for admission into a two or four-year institution of higher education or have earned a high school diploma or a GED at the time of application for relief or served in the U.S. armed forces for at least 2 years.
• Long-term U.S. residence. Students must reside in the U.S. when the law is enacted. In addition, those eligible must have lived in the U.S. for at least five years preceding the date of enactment of the Act.
• Good moral character. Immigrant students must demonstrate good moral character, a defined term in immigration law. In general, students must have no criminal record.

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One of my friends, an 18-year old, goes to court on Monday. He was brought here by his parents when he was a young boy. He did not make the choice himself. He knows the United States as his home.

He is facing deportation. ...to a country of which he is unfamiliar.

Although we have hope that the DREAM Act will continue to move forward and, with all of our efforts, eventually pass, I am not sure if it will be in enough time to keep Jose from being deported.

I am anxious for Monday morning and knowing that whatever happens Monday will likely be the same fate of my other friend, Monica, later this month.

Please pray for justice.

Monica has said she will accept whatever happens because she knows that her fight now, no matter what the outcome, will help others behind her.

Sounds like Martin Luther King, Jr. to me.

Much love, Monica and Jose. I'm behind you all the way!

Disappearing into the shadows

With the help of Monica, Anabeli, and Gracie (my young adult friends) and their techology expertise, we have created this video to illustrate the disappearance of immigrants and their forced anonymity.

The photos used are a combination of photos from the Immigration march here in Dallas in April of 2006 as well as photos taken by our three DREAM Act students when they went to Washington to talk to their state senators about passing the DREAM Act. I find their choice of pictures interesting and telling about what is important and meaningful to them.

The voices you hear are interviews I did with Monica, Jesse, Jose, and Anabeli....four potential DREAM Act candidates. Anabeli is the oldest at 22 years old. The others are 19 and 20 years old...yet their words...their voices...speak of struggles many of us rarely, if ever, have to think about.



I'm interested in your reactions.

White Privilege: Selective Memories

White privilege is being able to have selective memories about our history.

When I was in high school, I wasn’t taught about the Civil Rights Movement...or at least not much. But in college, a wonderful professor opened up a whole new world to me. He showed clips of Eyes on the Prize in our Social Work Policy class. Real footage...all black and white...of what happened in the 60s. I was shocked...dumbfounded, actually. I knew about Martin Luther King. I knew he had a dream and I knew (or thought I knew) that his dream was fulfilled.

After being introduced to the clips, I begged my professor to borrow his VHS tapes. I needed to know more of the story. He was hesitant. After much begging, however, he conceded.

I watched the entire series that summer and cried my way through. It had never occurred to me that people...White people...could be so cruel...so mean...so evil. I was horrified...and then angry. Why had no one ever told me about what happened during this time period before?? It was a turning point for me.

This new knowledge caused me to start questioning the history I had learned...and led me to discover quite a few disturbing pieces of history that seemed extremely important, but that were left out of my history books. Because the authors of these texts didn’t feel the need to tell me *all* of my history, I wondered what else might have been left out. Here are a few things I’ve found:

 

• Homestead Acts of 1862--Gave land grants to White Americans for colleges and farmers needing land. However, grants were not provided for enslaved people...and slaves were not freed until 1865...so African-Americans were not able to establish the same wealth as White people.

• Forty Acres and a Mule (1865)--Set up to compensate for the land not given to African-Americans during the Homestead Act. Forty thousand Black people (which wasn’t all of the freed slaves, but it was a start) were given 400,000 acres of land in Georgia and South Carolina...only to be taken back when it was found that confederate planters had previously owned it. President Andrew Johnson reversed Special Field Order No. 15, forced African-Americans off of the land, and returned it to the White men.

• GI Bill of 1944--Gave out free college and low-interest mortgages...but this didn’t include African Americans, who were prevented from qualifying for home loans, which also prevented them from establishing wealth in the same way White families did. 

It’s not that I wasn’t told about my history. It was that I wasn’t told *all* of my history. The parts where BIPOC (Black, Indiginous and People of Color) were denied those same opportunities were conveniently left out of the explanation or downplayed significantly.

I grew up in what I would consider an upper-middle class family. I grew up on a huge farm. I’ve always admired and respected the way my dad has been smart about his investments. Not long ago, I was asking him about how it all started. I knew our family...my ancestors...had established the area of the Ozarks where I grew up, but I wanted to understand how. That’s when he told me about the Homestead Act.

Our family was given land that they farmed and developed...and passed down through the generations. That opportunity allowed them to have the capital to purchase more land throughout the years and that land has created my inheritance. That same land opportunity, in Missouri or elsewhere, was denied to African-Americans.

Let that sink in. My current wealth, assets, and privileges are directly related to an 1862 Homestead Act that I had nothing to do with. But I benefit. My children will benefit from it and my children’s children will benefit from it. I have always taken that for granted. It never occurred to me that I had advantage...until I realized that in 1862 Black people were not allowed that distribution and now have to work 10 times as hard to make up for over 150 years of accumulation of wealth that they were denied.

I took my history at face value. I celebrated the fact that our country gave out land grants, created education systems, and provided free college and low home loans to veterans. It just never occurred to me that during those time periods when those new opportunities were taking effect, certain individuals...certain racial groups...were excluded from and intentionally denied those opportunities. It never occurred to me that the things that made (and make) America great only made (and make) America great for *some* people.

Dream Walkers

Some of our DREAM Act kids, Monica and Anabeli, are headed to Washington D.C. as I write so they can attend the Immigration March on Washington on Sunday. I wish them the best and hope their actions Sunday will move people to action.

What can we learn from young people?

Several years ago I used to host a "Civil Rights night" at my house. Teenagers would come over and we would watch documentaries like Eyes on the Prize and Chicano! (though Chicano! is no longer available, Teaching Tolerance will have a new Viva la Causa! video released in September). After watching the documentaries, we would have honest discussions about racism and struggle--then and now. I was always amazed at the depth of their thoughts and discussion.

As I was looking back through some old files, I found the following poems they wrote one night:



Immigration

People sometimes call me names
like immigrant.
I always respond with
ignorant.
I don’t know why, how what
I just go off
I see you looking
but am here to stay
am not leaving
instead am living here
and I plan to stay.

By: Nazareth Vidal, 4/28/05

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What did I do wrong?

As I sit in the house wondering why? Feeling like I’m bout 2 cry. I think 2 myself what did I do wrong? As I think about the past instead of the future and traumatizing memories floating around my head I wonder…what did I do wrong? I try 2 think of the good but not the bad but the more I think of it I wonder why? Is it me? Or you? And as I think so hard I wonder…what did I do wrong? As I sleep I dream of what the next day has in store 4 me but I try 2 get the harsh moments out of my brain and as I wake up confused I ask myself…what did I do wrong? Now things aren’t the same I think the positive and search 4 good things and now I don’t ask what I did wrong…I know what I did right and nothings wrong about that.

By: Twasanna Lewis

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Black History

Africa
Strange people
Chains
Ships
Long journey
New land
Work for free
Beaten
Sold
Escape
Emancipation of proclamation
Free
Not knowing what to do
Trying to make a better life
Being oppressed
Different standards
Unequality
Segregation
Standing up for rights
Civil Rights Act of 65
Same opportunity
Society improving
Able to sit in a room with Janet and Rachel

By: Adrian Williams

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Civil Rights
Let freedom ring…let freedom ring…thank God Almighty…let freedom ring
Black Dignity Struggle
Freedom is like a bird
Courage Endurance Faith
Strength of heart
Bravery Perseverance Sacrifice
Fighting for your rights
Equality Leaders Senators
We’re not going to give up
Violence Pain Suffering
. . . . .
Patience
. . . . .
Amendments
. . . . .
Changing the law…changing minds

By: Rachel Embry, Twasanna Lewis, Adrian Williams, Albert Ross, Nazareth Vidal, Janet Morrison, Raphael Bienavides

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The voices of young people are powerful.

They have so much to tell us if we choose to listen.


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